Chapter 25
"Sigh…."
'Why did I come all the way to a place like this.'
Ten minutes before the Break occurred.
Yuna secretly let out a sigh.
'I'm supposed to be in charge of monitoring, though.'
Of course, she understood.
Wasn't a Break about to occur soon?
From Cheonghwa's perspective, with all its elites deployed inside the gate, they'd want to borrow even a cat's paw.
On top of that, Yuna possessed a Unique-grade information-type trait.
It was only natural for her to be called to the scene.
'I don't wanna….'
If there was a problem,
it was Yuna's own motivation.
[—Unique-grade? Then wouldn't it be better for you to be assigned to the gate?]
[—You know I'm from that Tower. I'd only be a hindrance if I went along.]
[—Do you think we can't protect just one person? Egen… ahem, we don't discriminate just because it's the Beginner's Tower, so come with us.]
Yuna was, in fact, a fairly capable Awakener.
A Unique-grade information-type trait made her a valuable asset even to Cheonghwa.
Contrary to how she'd complained to Hwi-min, she could receive much better treatment if she worked on the front lines.
[—I'm sorry! Fieldwork is a little much for me!]
But she refused.
There was only one reason.
She… hated anything frightening.
'I only climbed the Tower because I got a bus ride!'
She hated fighting.
Monsters were gross.
She hated watching and analyzing those fights.
Instead, she liked office work.
She preferred sitting somewhere ordinary and working without ever being put in danger.
…It might look pathetic at first glance, but surprisingly, quite a few Awakeners felt the same way.
How many people in the modern era would smile after Awakening and head for the battlefield?
The timid, like Yuna, avoided gates all the more.
She hated them even if someone promised to protect her.
That was why she had adamantly refused to deploy, but
'If tens of thousands of people might die without me, how can I refuse….?'
People would die.
It was, indeed, an overwhelming justification.
Even Yuna was forced to yield and nod.
It was the moment her first deployment was confirmed.
And she.
Eventually regretted that decision.
-Crack-crack!!!
"…Eek!!!?"
Just as it seemed the Break was occurring, something suddenly rose from the ground.
"Ms. Yuna!!!"
"W-wait…."
There had been an escort beside her, too, but
the hand he extended could not reach her.
The labyrinth appeared so quickly and suddenly that even an A-rank Awakener could not react.
It was an even greater catastrophe for Yuna, who had suddenly been left alone inside the labyrinth.
"H-hieek!?"
'What is this place!! It's gross, it's scary!!'
Inside the labyrinth that had finally appeared,
Yuna backed away.
Its interior looked as though she had entered the guts of some enormous creature, powerfully stimulating her fear.
"I-is anyone there!? Save me…."
She panicked and cried out for help.
Paralyzed by the fear of death, she could not even remember that making noise would draw the monster's attention.
The consequences came immediately.
-Squish.
"Save… huh?"
A soft, squishy pink wall.
It suddenly lurched violently, and a bundle of tentacles shot out.
Shaaak—!!!
The tentacles then coiled tightly around Yuna's body and slammed her into the wall.
Fortunately or unfortunately, she was not injured.
"Mmph!?"
'What is this thing!!'
The wall split open as the tentacles approached.
It let her inside.
Deeper and deeper into the labyrinth.
'Kidnapping!? Why me of all people….?'
-Ding.
[The trait 'Piercing Eye' activates.]
[Boar Labyrinth]
Level: (Unassessable)
Feature: Can use a female body as a breeding ground to create various monsters
"Hieeeek!!!!!?"
The delayed notification fanned the flames of despair.
She didn't know what a breeding ground was, but the thought of using one to create monsters was horrifying.
It was obvious she was going to suffer something horrible.
"Please save me!!! Somebody, please!!!"
She cried out through her tears.
She even begged the tentacles not to do this to her.
Faced with such an irrational catastrophe, only despair and terror echoed through her mind.
"I'm sorry! I won't do it again!! I'll be good from now on, so… Mooooom!!!!"
She was desperate enough to call for her parents, but…
There was one thing she did not know.
The Awakeners jumping down from the portal could see the entire scene.
"Mr. Hee-chan!! That's…!!!"
"Isn't that one of our guild members!?"
As she was dragged toward the center of the vast labyrinth.
"That isn't what's important! Look at the other side!"
"What is that… what is that thing!?"
On the opposite side, walls were being sliced away one after another.
Why was Yuna being kidnapped?
What was the incomprehensible phenomenon occurring on the other side?
The first to realize what it meant was, once again, Hwang Hee-chan.
"It's Cheol Gangmin!!"
"What!?"
"Cheol Gangmin is going after the boss!! That's what it sensed!!"
That boss was highly capable of gauging an Awakener's power.
Even when they had been trapped for a week, it had stopped sending monsters once everyone had regrouped.
What if such a monster had sensed Cheol Gangmin's overwhelming might?
If it realized that incomprehensible violence, against which resistance was meaningless, was bearing down on it for the first time…
How would the monster act?
"That's a hostage!!"
It had taken a woman it could easily overpower hostage.
Boar Labyrinth understood perfectly that females made especially valuable hostages.
…It simply hadn't had time to threaten Hwi-min.
-Slice.
"……?"
'Why is Yuna here?'
Hwi-min, having cut straight through the labyrinth,
caught sight of Yuna.
Her face was drenched in tears.
She was hyperventilating from panic.
One of her shoes had come off from struggling.
He didn't waste time thinking; his actions were swift.
'How dare this bastard?'
-Whirl.
Hwi-min's Moonlight Sword danced through the air.
The sword energy that sprang from it immediately severed the tentacles,
-Slice!!
[GRHAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!]
and, as a bonus, sliced halfway through Boar Labyrinth's main body behind them—the enormous eye embedded in the wall.
The boss Cheonghwa's elite had struggled against for a week without even catching a glimpse of it.
Hwi-min reduced it to a near-death state in less than a minute.
-Slither.
[Grrrrr…!!!]
The startled eye sank behind the wall.
Then it moved along the wall.
Purple fluid like tears streamed from the severed eye as it fled Hwi-min in a panic.
"……."
'Ugh, what the hell is that gross thing.'
Hwi-min shuddered inwardly.
The sight of the eye embedded in the wall sliding around was the sort of thing that might give him nightmares in all sorts of ways.
'If Yuna weren't here, I could use Spatial Slash to one-shot it! I need to chase it… no, Senior comes first!'
Then, flash—!!
Hwi-min scooped Yuna up into his arms.
This was far too dangerous a place for a Level 151.
She could be attacked by a blind monster, so he intended to get her out first.
'I might look pretty cool.'
'W-wait, what is happening!? Tentacles again!?'
Hwi-min was invisible and wearing an artifact that concealed his presence.
Because of that, it felt to Yuna as though a ghost had done it,
-Crack.
"……Huh?"
At that moment, she heard something break.
Yuna's gaze turned upward.
The translucent shield covering the labyrinth shattered, and clear sunlight streamed in.
-Ding.
[The trait 'Piercing Eye'….]
[Boar Labyrinth's Veil]
Feature: Indestructible
"……Hieeek!!!?"
'It says it's indestructible!!?'
Then, whoosh—!!!
Yuna's body shot straight upward in an instant.
'No way!?'
Only then did Yuna realize what was happening.
There was only one person capable of doing something like this.
The one-of-a-kind Awakener in the entire world whom she had desperately been searching for.
It could only be Cheol Gangmin.
"Mr. Cheol Gangmin!!?"
"……."
'That's my afterimage… no, that's the sun.'
Since Yuna couldn't see through Hwi-min's invisibility, she was looking in the wrong direction. Anyway.
'There might be more than this one, so I'll put her down quickly and come back to deal with it.'
Tadat—!!
Hwi-min dashed off.
As though to toy with the labyrinth, he ran right across its top and escaped the labyrinth.
To Yuna, it looked as though a knight on a white horse had come to rescue her.
"M-Mr. Cheol Gangmin…."
'He's so cool….''
Thump.
Yuna's heart pounded hard.
It wasn't because she was afraid.
* * *
He set Yuna down on the lawn without much ceremony.
He would have liked to lay her on a bench, but
he didn't have time for that.
'All right, back to it.'
He was just about to run,
"E-excuse me! Mr. Cheol Gangmin!!"
"……?"
At that moment, he heard the community username he used.
He glanced back with only his eyes.
Yuna was looking at empty air.
"Th-thank you… so, um, your contact information…."
…Come to think of it, she'd said finding Cheol Gangmin was her job.
Even in this situation, she was thinking about work.
Talk about dedication.
'Contact info? That's a problem.'
Whoosh—!!
He ran, leaving Yuna behind.
Whatever she said soon faded beneath the sound of the wind.
Taat.
He stood atop the labyrinth again,
-Ding.
[The trait 'Dragon Eyes'….]
'There you are.'
He quickly ran across its top.
The boss was moving around inside the labyrinth in real time.
He intended to take down just that one.
Since he ignored the labyrinth and ran straight across it, it didn't take long.
"Spatial Slash."
[Khyaaaaakkk!!!!]
Slice.
The eye was severed by the sword slash I unleashed.
The half-severed eyeball that had been dangling just moments ago dropped with a thud.
Needless to say, the mana core inside it was exposed.
[Hwa…….]
Even then, perhaps reluctant to die, it seeped into the wall and tried to slither away, but…
-Click.
"Heeere's Johnny~."
My position was already right above it.
I sliced open the veil above the labyrinth and lightly jumped down.
The blade had already been embedded in the wall.
Thanks to that, a miracle like Moses parting the Red Sea occurred in the wall.
Shraaaak—!!!
Along with the satisfying feel of cutting through meat, Boar Labyrinth's mana core was sliced cleanly in half.
[Aaaa…….]
"Phew, done."
This really feels like a drama.
You know, the one where a guy in a mask tears apart a Japanese flag.
Of course, I'm not as handsome as that actor, but anyway.
-Fsssh….
'All right, time to go home.'
As the entire labyrinth turned to dust,
I casually rested the sword on my shoulder.
With so many guilds gathered, they'd take care of the remaining small fry themselves.
I intended to trust them and leave.
'Serin, you've had to wait so long~.'
I was about to head straight to the hospital, but…
-Freeze.
"……Huh?"
I stopped in surprise.
Before my eyes.
A notification window that should never have appeared was flashing.
[The trait 'Seed of Transcendence' activates!]